Behind our customersXevery step of the way

Operations Managers

Duncan Bruce
Head of Automation

Duncan Bruce
Head of Operations

Duncan joined DA-Desk in 2012 and has more than 16 years’ experience within the shipping industry, both at sea and ashore. He has sailed on a variety of vessels including LNG, LPG, Product and VLCCs. He has held management positions ashore for shipping lines with previous roles including Head of Hub Port Management for Asia Pacific and Cargo Operations Manager for Africa, both with Maersk Line. Duncan has global shipping experience having worked in the UK, South Africa, Denmark, Singapore and Hong Kong, where he held a commercial management position in CSAV Norasia. Duncan has a BA (Hons) Degree from the University of Sunderland.

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Takashi Ikeda
Operations Manager

Takashi Ikeda
Operations Manager

Takashi joined DA-Desk as Operations Manager in 2009 and is responsible for managing DA-Desk’s growing Japanese customer base. Prior to joining DA-Desk, he was an extensive user of the DA-Desk web application while an Operator/Manager at a Japanese shipping company doing tramping business worldwide. A 20-year veteran of the shipping industry, Ikeda-san also worked at a number of tramp shipping companies in Japan. He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University of Japan, and holds a Bachelor of Economics degree.

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Mike Rhodes
Operations Manager

Mike Rhodes
Operations Manager

Mike joined DA-Desk as an Operations Manager in 2006. Mike holds a British Masters certificate and spent 27 years at sea onboard a variety of vessels sailing worldwide. Mike came ashore in 1999 taking up the position of Head of Marine Operations at Global United Limited (Bahamas), a large shipping agency. He has also been DA-Desk’s Safety Manager.

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Michael Bang Gronbech
Operations Manager

Michael GronbechOperations Manager

Michael Bang Gronbech joined DA-Desk as Operations Manager in 2015. For over a decade, Michael has worked in the Tanker Industry, specializing in the tanker product market focusing on voyage optimization such as port cost management and bunker cost control. Before joining DA-Desk, he worked as Head of Tanker Operation for Maersk Broker and Senior Commercial Operator with Maersk Tankers with previous experience from tanker brokering, handling time charters, new building and voyage contracts. Michael holds a Certificate of Maritime Law from Skuld, Copenhagen.

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Andrea Mcleod
Operations Manager

Andrea Mcleod
Operations Manager

Andrea joined DA-Desk from university in a graduate trainee program. Since 2002, she has progressed through DA-Desk culminating in her appointment as Operations Manager.
As Operations Manager, Andrea is responsible for on-boarding, training and lead-in of new key customers. During her time at DA-Desk, she has also qualified to be a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers

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Sofia Drakou
Operations Manager

Sofia Drakou
Operations Manager

>Sofia Drakou joined DA-Desk as Operations Manager in 2016. For almost two decades, Sofia has worked in the Shipping Industry with focus on operations and disbursement accounting. Before joining DA-Desk, Sofia established the Disbursements Department for Product Shipping & Trading S. A. in Athens and was also a Senior Operations Manager at A.M. Nomikos in London managing commercial operations for bulk carriers. Sofia is also experienced in the tanker segment in Capital Ship Management as well as Trafigura Maritime Ventures Ltd. in Athens

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Michael Oliver
Operations Manager

Michael Oliver
Operations Manager

Michael started with DA-Desk in 2012 and has 20 years of experience within the Crude, Clean Petroleum Product, Dry bulk and LNG sectors, most recently as a manager with Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG). Michael graduated from the University of Northumbria and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.

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Tom Watson
Operations Manager

Tom Watson
Operations Manager

Tom joined the company in 2012 and has 18 years varied shipping experience including nearly a decade in port operations and a similar amount of years in vessel management and logistics, working on vessel stowage, scheduling and port and services contract negotiations. He has worked for some of the world’s largest and most diverse shipping corporations such as CP Ships, K-Line and Hutchinson Port Holdings. He holds a certification in the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Sea and Vessel Stability as well as a Diploma in Supervision and Management.

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Sarvotham Bhandary
Operations Manager

Sarvotham Bhandary joined DA-Desk in 2006 as a knowledge worker and has risen through the ranks to become Operations Manager and manages some of DA-Desk customers. Prior to working with DA-Desk, Sarvotham spent 10 years with a leading Indian Shipping Agency. Sarvotham holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mangalore University and is currently pursuing the qualified membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.

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Sarvotham Bhandary
Operations Manager

Navneet Rainu
Head of Processing

Operations Manager

Navneet started with DA-Desk in 2016. He brings a diverse experience from the maritime industry over the past 13 years, with over a decade spent on board vessels at sea. He has previously worked ashore with Maersk Line, where he was involved in the end-to-end processes for vessel efficiency and energy optimization. Navneet brings in sailing experience from VLCCs, Container vessels, Product and Chemical Tankers and therefore has had a great exposure to vessel operations. Navneet attained his Master’s education from Singapore Maritime Academy.

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Balaji Nadar
Operations Manager

Balaji Nadar
Operations Manager

Balaji joined DA-Desk in January 2005 and has worked with all aspects of the services provided to customers. Over the years, he has been involved in operations, customer experience and onboarding management, all such roles that benefit him in his current role as Operations Manager.
Prior to joining DA-Desk, Balaji worked for a Shipping Agency in India, focusing also on disbursement accounting.

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Managers

Capt. Melwyn Machado
GM Group Sales & Marketing Services

Capt. Melwyn Machado
GM Group Sales & Marketing Services

Capt. Melwyn Paul Machado joined DA-Desk in 2008 and is General Manager Group Sales and Marketing Services. He is responsible for business intelligence, sales support, social media strategy and business development support. Prior to joining DA-Desk, he sailed for more than 17 years on Tankers in companies including Oil Majors such as ExxonMobil and BP Shipping. He is a certified Master Mariner and holds an MBA in Operations and Marketing from S P Jain School of Global Management, Dubai.

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R Subramanian
Head of Customer Experience

R Subramanian
Product Manager

R. Subramanian (Subbu) joined DA-Desk in 2001 and has more than 20 years of experience in the shipping industry. Today he is responsible for translating the voice of customers into real products. He is also responsible for data integration between DA-Desk and the customer’s voyage management or accounting system. He has held various positions within DA-Desk before moving to Product Management. Prior to joining DA-Desk he worked in accounting for Hanjin Shipping and in container vessel port operation for NOL. Subbu holds a degree in commerce from M.K.University and a Master Degree in Business Administration from S.P.Jain School of Global Management.

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Vijay Mishra
Process Improvement Manager

Vijay Mishra
Process Improvement Manager

Vijay Mishra joined DA-Desk in 2008 and is responsible for ensuring that DA-Desk processes are continuously improving and delivering value to its customers. He manages Lean Six Sigma and Quality initiatives on process improvements. He is also involved in promoting sustainability programs. Prior to joining DA-Desk, for more than 12 years he worked at leading global companies including Dell and ICICI Bank dealing with back office processes. He graduated in Mathematics from Mumbai University and is a Trained Six Sigma Black Belt

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Anna Zhurbenko
Agency Relationship Manager

Anna Zhurbenko
Agency Relationship Manager

Anna joined DA-Desk in 2011. As Agency Relationship Manager, she assists in the development of new services that add value to both agents and principals and is responsible for enhancing the agent/DA-Desk working experience. Prior to joining DA-Desk in 2011, Anna served as Operations Manager at Wilhelmsen Maritime Services. She began her career as Deputy Director of International Affairs at Projection Institute GIPROGRAD and has served on the Faculty of Transport Technologies and Systems Sea Transport Operations & Management of Odessa National Maritime University.

Anna holds a Master’s degree, foreign philology faculty, at State University named after V.A. Soukhomlinskiy. She holds an MBA in Shipping and Logistics from Middlesex University.

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Nigel Harkness
GM Laytime-Desk

Nigel Harkness
GM Laytime-Desk

Nigel joined DA-Desk in 2002. Over the years, Nigel has worked throughout the organisation and been involved in the development of the DA-Desk System and different operational processes. Nigel has managed several commercial projects under the DA-Desk umbrella and is currently GM of Laytime-Desk, a service launched in 2016. Prior to DA-Desk, Nigel worked in Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong for Swire and Jardines. Nigel has an MBA from Herriot Watt University.

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Bruce Kuiper
Commercial Manager, PortPayables

Bruce Kuiper
Commercial Manager, PortPayables

Bruce joined DA-Desk in December 2016 as Commercial Manager of PortPayables, and is responsible for commercial contact with customers, the onboarding of new customers and ensuring the smooth and efficient running of PortPayables. Previously, Bruce worked with Ernst & Young and prior to joining DA-Desk, he was a Financial Director for a mining company operating across East Africa. Bruce has a degree in commerce from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and is a qualified chartered accountant.

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Ruchir Mankodi
Project Manager

Ruchir Mankodi
Project Manager

Ruchir has worked with DA-Desk first from 2004 to 2011 as Assistant Operations Manager, and returned to serve DA-Desk customers as Operations Manager in April 2016. Ruchir is focused on and responsible for continuous system and process efficiency improvements.
Previously, Ruchir worked at the Offshore Oil Terminal, Kandla Port Trust, in India. In 2008, Ruchir completed the Professional Qualifying Examinations for the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers in 2008.

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Masaki Kaneko
Customer Integration and Requirements Manager

Masaki Kaneko
Business Requirements Manager

Masaki has been with DA-Desk since 2003, initially as Operations Manager. He transitioned to business analysis/ requirements for the software development side acting as a conduit between the business and the development team, building the DA-Desk application based on customer requirements. He is also responsible for handling development requirements for DA-Desk data integration with Voyage Management Systems and other DA-Desk applications.
Prior to joining DA-Desk, he worked as interline manager at a liner shipping company in Miami.
Masaki holds a degree in mathematics from the Queen Mary University of London and a Master’s degree in Trade, Transport and Finance from Cass Business School, City, University of London.

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Thomas Banas
Head of Sales

Thomas Banas
Head of Sales

Thomas is Head of Sales for DA-Desk. He joined DA-Desk in early 2010 and has been in Dubai since 2015, responsible for the Global Sales Team.
Thomas has close to 20 years’ experience in the maritime industry and previously worked with companies such as Maersk Data, ShipServ and Inchcape Shipping Services. He lived and worked in Asia for 18 years before relocating to Dubai. With a dedicated, sincere and relevant approach to solving problems for our customers, Thomas retains a strong understanding of the issues facing the industry and how DA-Desk adds value. Thomas holds a Blue MBA from Copenhagen Business School.

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Dionysis Tzelepis
Commercial Finance Manager, PortPayables

Dionysis Tzelepis
Commercial Finance Manager, PortPayables

Dionysis joined DA-Desk in March 2017 as Commercial Finance Manager of PortPayables. He is responsible for developing and maintaining the commercial relationships with our customers as well as enhancing the financial services that our customers value. Prior to Marcura, Dionysis worked for over 10 years with Eletson Corporation in Piraeus, where he held the position of Treasury and Corporate Finance Manager.
Dionysis holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from the Athens University of Economics and Business and a Master’s Degree in Finance from Henley Business School of Reading University.

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Thomas Bennett
Head of GM Agency Business Development

Thomas Bennett
Head of GM Agency Business Development

Tom joined DA-Desk in 2017 as General Manager, Group Agency Business Development. Previously, he spent over 5 years with Inchcape Shipping Services, first in their Global Hub before then transitioning to local operations where he rose to the position of Vice President Marine Services – North Europe. During this time Tom was responsible for a number of key initiatives, including rolling out a Standardised KPI Dashboard to global hub customers, delivering seven straight quarters of service delivery improvement on a critical growth account as well as identifying key strategic areas for business expansion including managing closer relationships with sub-agents. Tom has a BA (Hons) Degree from the University of Birmingham and has obtained his Advanced Diploma from the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.

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“Our team represents 29 nationalities, speaks 23 languages, operateXXXXXin seven countries and are all passionate about one thing; shipping.”

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